[Wobs]

Originally Posted by wardengineering

There is great inertia in science, medicine, law, governments and religion. The railroad effect is a metaphor that describes the continuing implementation of ideas, good or bad, that persist for centuries because it became a foundation for so many other rules of society that the origin of the idea has long since been forgotten. Take for example the railroad effect.
England was the first country to develop a railroad. The track width was set at 4 feet 8 2 inches. Where did the track width come from?
The Romans invaded England in the First Century BC and again in the First Century AD. The Romans brought with them their Calvary and war machines drawn by horses. The Romans had built a wagon with wheels the width of two horses so that the following wheels aligned with the tracks of the horses. This served to compact the trails for the wheels and help to prevent the wagon wheels from being broken by rocky terrain. Thus the width of 4 feet 8 2 inches became the width for all future tracks which followed two horses= asses. Even the space age had to conform to the width of the old Roman standard because the components of the space shuttle, built in various parts of the country, had to be transported by rail to central assembly areas and could be no wider than the tunnels of the railroad through which the rails ran. In other words, the space age is still controlled by the Roman two thousand tear old standard of two horses' asses. No one questions the effect of the two horses= asses syndrome.

http://www.snopes.com/history/american/gauge.htm